


Zero

by SniperJ324



Category: DCU (Comics), Marvel (Comics), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Action/Adventure, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Magic, Music, Original Character-centric, Personal Growth, Romance, Science Fiction, Superpowers, smart mc
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-06
Updated: 2020-04-06
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:54:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23062804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SniperJ324/pseuds/SniperJ324
Summary: Yo. Here's a Marvel story.There's a few things you might want to know before reading.One: My MC will be a mutant, and will have the powers of Iceman.Two: My MC starts off relatively weak, but he will gradually become powerful. After all, Iceman is an omega level mutant. I'm not really gonna try to make his progression slow or fast, I'm just gonna let it happen whenever I feel is right. However, just so everyone is clear, as we get deeper into the story, he will become very powerful, even OP, depending on who you're comparing him to. If you don't like that, turn away now. I've warned everyone, so why waste time flaming?Three: This doesn't take place on Earth 616. MC is on one of the many Earths in the multiverse.Four: This story will have a single pairing. At no point will there ever be a harem. It may also have a few lemons down the road, but it definitely won't be packed with them, if I even decide to write any.Five: Music will be a big part of this story. It's not very prominent in this chapter, but it will be in the chapters to come.Six: Expect updates for this story to be kind of slow. While I have a decent idea of where I ultimately want to go with it, I'm still working out some kinks, plus I have other stories to work on, as well.That's all for now. Without further ado, I hope you all enjoy the story.
Relationships: Kitty Pryde/Original Male Character(s)





	Zero

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo. Here's a Marvel story.
> 
> There's a few things you might want to know before reading.
> 
> One: My MC will be a mutant, and will have the powers of Iceman.
> 
> Two: My MC starts off relatively weak, but he will gradually become powerful. After all, Iceman is an omega level mutant. I'm not really gonna try to make his progression slow or fast, I'm just gonna let it happen whenever I feel is right. However, just so everyone is clear, as we get deeper into the story, he will become very powerful, even OP, depending on who you're comparing him to. If you don't like that, turn away now. I've warned everyone, so why waste time flaming?
> 
> Three: This doesn't take place on Earth 616. MC is on one of the many Earths in the multiverse.
> 
> Four: This story will have a single pairing. At no point will there ever be a harem. It may also have a few lemons down the road, but it definitely won't be packed with them, if I even decide to write any.
> 
> Five: Music will be a big part of this story. It's not very prominent in this chapter, but it will be in the chapters to come.
> 
> Six: Expect updates for this story to be kind of slow. While I have a decent idea of where I ultimately want to go with it, I'm still working out some kinks, plus I have other stories to work on, as well.
> 
> That's all for now. Without further ado, I hope you all enjoy the story.

"Hey" - Speaking

'Hm?' - Mental

_**"Ice wall"**_ \- Spells/Techniques

* * *

Inside of an average house in New York, a young man was rushing to get dressed.

This young man had rich, caramel skin, golden-brown eyes, and a very long, very curly mop of black hair. He stood at a slightly above average height of 5'10 (177 cm).

As quickly as he could, he put on a navy blue, long-sleeved shirt, with black pants and shoes. He also had on a gray backpack, a black, unzipped hoodie, and a pair of black, rectangular-framed glasses.

Now fully dressed, the young man rushed out of his room, before quickly making his way down a set of stairs, running past his father, who was sitting at the kitchen table.

His father was a man of average height, standing just a tad shorter than him, with a somewhat burly physique. His hair was cut short, and he had a thick goatee. His name was Warren.

"You overslept _again,_ Jeremiah?" Warren asked, shaking his head with a sigh as he put his glass of coffee down. "You'd better hurry. Your sister is already gone."

Ignoring his father's disappointed tone (something he'd gotten used to over the years), Jeremiah quickly ran out of the house, only to curse when he saw his school bus already driving away.

'Great. Just great.' He thought, groaning as he dragged his hand down his face.

Once again, it looked like he would have to run to school.

* * *

Finally arriving at Midtown High after just a little under fifteen minutes of continuous running, Jeremiah could be seen hunched over, panting as he wiped some sweat from his forehead, hearing some students laugh at him as they passed by. On the bright side, he managed to arrive just a few minutes after the bus, having missed it enough that he learned of a few shortcuts, which he supposed was a silver lining.

"Wow. That might be a new record for you. Keep this up, and you might just wanna think about joining the track team." He heard a very familiar voice jokingly say, getting him to crack a smile as he looked up, laying eyes on the smiling face of his closest friend.

"Hey, Ki- Kitty." He greeted her, pushing up his glasses as he straightened his posture. "Y- You didn't ha- have to w- wait f- for me."

Kitty, as she was called, was wearing a white and black, polka dot shirt, with dark blue jeans, and a pair of black boots. She had fair skin, long, brown hair, dark blue eyes, and stood at 5'5.

"As if I wouldn't." She said, shaking her head with a smile as they walked together into the school.

A few minutes later, the two stepped into their classroom, just as the bell rang.

"Mr. Lee, Ms. Pryde. Cutting it close, aren't we? How many times does this make?" The teacher asked, giving both of them (mostly Jeremiah) a hard stare.

"Sorry, Mr. Brown. Won't happen again." Kitty said, as the two of them made their way to their seats, which were located at the back, left corner of the classroom.

After taking attendance, the teacher started the class. A little while later, the students were all reading through a book for an assignment, although they were all fairly distracted by a - admittedly very rhythmic - thumping sound, with the teacher frowning as he turned his eyes to Jeremiah, who was absent-mindedly drumming his fingers on his desk while reading.

"Mr. Lee!" Mr. Brown barked, startling the young man out of whatever daydream he was in. "In case you haven't noticed, you're distracting your classmates! Quiet down back there!"

"R- R- Right. So- Sorry, Sir- Sir." He apologized, with more than a few of his classmates laughing at his stuttering. It was something he'd been ridiculed for ever since elementary school. It didn't help that his stuttering only seemed to get worse as he got older.

"Jerks." Kitty said with a frown. These people didn't ever even try to get to know Jeremiah, yet they always made fun of him.

As for Jeremiah himself, he simply sighed and stared down at his desk.

And they wondered why he didn't want to be here.

* * *

Later that evening, Jeremiah could be found inside a rather fancy restaurant, sighing as he pulled a black apron from around his waist, having just finished his shift at work. It wasn't the best paying job, nor was it one that he liked very much, but it was enough for now. Well, the large discounts he got on food and drinks did certainly didn't hurt either.

As he began to make his way out, his eyes lingered for a while on the piano that was towards the back of the restaurant, before he shook his head and left.

Now outside, Jeremiah stuck some wireless headphones in his ears, listening to some classical music as he started to head to the train station.

When he was about two blocks away from his destination, however, he frowned when the sound of yelling started to overtake his music, along with the strong smell of smoke invading his nose. As he looked up from his phone, he soon realized why.

An inferno was blazing, trying to eat up an apartment complex with its flames. The firefighters were doing all they could to put it out with their hoses, but they were making slow progress.

'Don't get involved, don't get involved.' Jeremiah thought, not wanting to get caught up in any trouble.

"Alright, everybody stay back!" The fireman, who seemed to be in charge, yelled to the crowd that had gathered. "We do not anyone to get hurt! Do not come any closer!"

"You have to go back in!" A woman at the front of the crowd yelled, tears streaming down her face as she try to get past the barrier, having to be held back by a couple firefighters. "Please! My little girl is still in there! My Susie is in there!"

Jeremiah stopped in his tracks, the sounds of his music, the crowd, the fire-- everything became distorted, for lack of a better term.

'Why did I have to hear that?' For the most part, Jeremiah lived by a pretty simple philosophy: Don't stand out. Don't do anything to attract attention.

And yet... He couldn't just let a little kid die, which was why he was currently wrapping his hoodie around his head, using it as a makeshift mask, before he began running towards the building.

"Hey! What are you doing?!"

Ignoring the yells of the firefighters and police, Jeremiah ran through the front door of the apartment complex, immediately being hit by a wave of heat as he entered the building.

'Seriously, what are you doing?' He had to ask himself, not quite believing that he was actually about to do this. 'Kitty'll kill me if- scratch that, _when_ she finds out about this.'

"H- Hey! Lit- Little girl!" He called out, cursing his stuttering now more than ever. It didn't help that his hoodie was covering his mouth, which, in turn, muffled his voice. "S- Susie! Can y- you he- hear me?!"

As he was walking, he had to quickly jump back when a piece of burning wood suddenly fell in front of him.

'It's no use. If I want to put out this fire... I'm gonna have to use it.' He thought, gulping a bit as he took a few steps back. 'Assuming that I even remember _how_ to use it.'

Concentrating, Jeremiah held his right hand out in front of him, which, after a few seconds, released a beam of ice, using it to extinguish the fire in front of him as he continued to move forward.

"SU- SUSIE! CAN Y- Y- YOU HEAR M- ME?!" He yelled, much louder this time, having used his other hand to pull his hoodie down, so that his mouth was no longer covered.

It was faint, but from the floor above him, he could just barely hear a scream. He wasted no time in finding a way up, now using both hands to extinguish the flames with his ice.

Reaching a set of stairs, he slowly, yet as quickly as possible, made his way up, not wanting them to collapse while he was on them, before calling out for the little girl again.

"SUSIE! ARE YOU HERE?!" He bellowed, not even realizing that he did it without stuttering.

"I'm here! Mommy! Somebody! Help me!" He heard from just a little ways down the hall. Jogging through the hall, he called out for her again and again, not stopping until he could tell exactly which room she was in.

'I need to hurry. The building is starting to collapse!' Jeremiah thought, using every ounce of strength he had to kick the door down.

"SUSIE!"

"I- I'm here!" He heard, making him frantically look around, until he spotted her under the bed.

Crouching, he stuck out a hand for her to grab, only for her to cower away.

"Who are you?" She asked with a frightened tone.

"I'm yo- your mom's f- friend." He didn't really like to lie, but they didn't have time to waste on long explanations right now. "C- Come on. I'm here t- to a- save you."

As soon as he said this, he felt another wave of heat on his back. Turning around, his eyes widened when he saw the fire in the hallway come back with a vengeance. 'How?! I thought I put it all out!'

Quickly turning back to Susie, Jeremiah hurriedly said, "We have to go, now! Grab my hand!"

It seemed that she got the message, because she crawled out from under the bed as quickly as she could, before grabbing his hand.

Scooping her up into his arms, Jeremiah found himself torn on what to do now. They were only on the second floor, but it was still pretty high up, and with the little girl in his arms, he wasn't sure he wanted to risk jumping out the window. However, if he went through the halls again, even if he did use his powers to extinguish the fire as he went, the chances of the building collapsing before they made it to the exit seemed pretty high.

'What should I do?!' He thought frantically and fearfully, knowing one wrong move could mean death for both himself and Susie.

Quickly running over to the window, Jeremiah looked outside, trying to see if there was something, anything, that could possibly cushion their fall if they jumped.

Nothing.

There was a group of bushes, but they were already being ate up in the spreading flames. There was snow, but that, much like the bushes, was already melting at a rapid pace, not that there was much to begin with.

.....

'No choice, then.' Walking over to the Susie's bed, Jeremiah quickly pulled off both the sheet and the cover, before completely wrapping her in them, managing to attach her to his front, similar to a backpack.

"D- Don't worry, S- Susie. I'll... I'll protect you."

Taking a deep breath, Jeremiah turned towards the door and held up both hands, before he began shooting out beams of ice again, battling against what he supposed could be considered his natural enemy.

He would not let anything stop him from getting this little girl out of this building, safe and sound.

* * *

Outside of the building, the people waited with baited breath, all wondering who the mysterious individual was that had rushed into a burning building.

"Who was that?"

"Didn't look like any hero I've ever seen."

"Maybe it's a new hero?"

"Dumbass... That guy just got himself killed for nothin'. There's no way that anybody in there is still alive."

These were just some of the things said by the people gathered, while the firefighters continued to spray the building with water.

At the front of the crowd, Susie's mother stood with her hands clasped, praying to the heavens above that her little girl was alright.

Her heart nearly came to a complete stop when she saw the some of the windows start to blow out, which was soon followed by the roof caving in.

"Damnit!" The fire chief cursed, balling his fists as he looked at the building.

Dropping to her knees, the woman bawled her eyes out, getting sympathetic looks from those around her.

"Wait... Hey! Someone's coming out!" One of the firefighters yelled as she pointed at the building, getting the attention of everyone present, including Susie's mother, with many eyes widening at what they saw.

There, walking out of the half collapsed building, was Jeremiah, who had parts of his pants and shirt burnt. And in his arms, was none other than-

"SUSIE!" The little girl's mother yelled, quickly running up and grabbing her out of Jeremiah's arms as she now cried tears of joy and relief, before turning and thanking the young man (who now had his face completely covered again) profusely.

"It- It was n- nothing." That was definitely a lie. That had easily been the hardest, most terrifying thing he'd ever done in his life up to this point.

Not wanting to stick around, especially when he saw the news crews approaching him, Jeremiah turned and quickly ran away, ignoring the shouts from behind for him to stop and/or come back.

* * *

It wasn't until an hour and a half later that Jeremiah finally made it home.

"You're la- whoa. What the hell happened to you?" Was the first thing he heard after walking in the house.

The one who asked this, was a teenage girl with skin that was perhaps just a shade darker than his own. She had long, jet black hair that went just past her shoulders, and chocolate brown eyes.

As for her attire, she was wearing a purple onesie.

This was his little sister, Naomi.

"I fell." Was all Jeremiah said, barely even glancing at her as he trudged upstairs to his room.

Once he made it inside, he closed the door behind him, before he practically threw himself on his bed, feeling exhausted after the adrenaline rush wore off.

'What a day. Or, night, I guess.' He thought, yawning as he tiredly rolled himself onto his back, leaving him staring up at the ceiling. 'When was the last time I even used my powers before tonight? Two, maybe three years ago?'

Ever since they'd first manifested a few years ago, his powers were something he'd gone to great lengths to hide. After all, mutants weren't exactly liked by the majority of people. Even his father didn't like mutants, claiming them and their abilities to be 'unnatural', which was why he hadn't even told his family about his powers. Their relationship was already rocky enough without them knowing about that.

Bringing one of his hands up in front of his face, Jeremiah watched as an icy mist started to swirl around it, before he willed it to disappear, letting his hand fall back to the bed. 'I'm lucky that I remembered how to control it.'

With a sigh, he pulled out his phone, deciding to check the news, only to blink when he saw that he twelve missed calls from Kitty.

'Yep... She's gonna be pissed tomorrow.' Sighing, he swiped the notifications off of his screen, before he loaded up the internet.

Not surprisingly, one of the first things that popped up was a video about the fire, which he tapped with his thumb.

At first, they were simply talking about the fire itself, such as what could've caused it, how it nearly spread to the nearby buildings, etc.

And then, the scene changed to the reporter interviewing people.

_"....And what can you tell us about the person that saved you, Susie?"_

" _He was nice. I think he was scared, too, because he was stuttering,"_ The little girl began with a giggle, before continuing _, "but he kept telling me, 'Don't worry. I'll protect you.' And he did. Thank you, mister!"_

" _What about you, ma'am?"_ The reporter asked, turning to Susie's mother. _"Is there anything you'd like to say to your daughter's mysterious savior?"_

_"Yes."_ The woman then looked directly into the camera, saying, _"I don't know who you are, or if you're even seeing this, but... Thank you. Thank you for bringing my little girl back to me."  
_

The reporter then began interviewing the fire chief.

_"Yeah, listen. I got no clue who it was that ran in there like that, but I'll tell you this: a little girl is alive beacuse of it. Say what you will about recklessness, but that's a hero in my book."_

This was the last thing Jeremiah heard, before he finally drifted off to the land of dreams, feeling better than he had in years.

* * *

The next morning, Jeremiah could be found aimlessly walking down a sidewalk, still running through the events of the previous night in his head, only to be broken out of his thoughts by the sound of his phone ringing. Pulling it out, his heart nearly skipped a beat when he saw that it was Kitty who was calling. What's more, she was video calling him.

'Crap. I meant to call her back after I woke up.' Sighing, he hit the answer button.

_"Jeremiah! What happened? I was calling you all night!"_ She said with a cute pout, making him get butterflies in his stomach.

"S- Sorry... I g- got in pre- pretty late la- last night." He apologized, rubbing the back of his neck.

_"Well, what are you doing now? Let's hang out."_

"Actually..." Jeremiah began, lowering his voice as he glanced around at the people walking past him, making Kitty frown in concern when she saw how strange he was acting. "Th- There's some- something I need t- to talk to y- you about. M- Meet me at t- the junk- junkyard."

_"O... kay? Is everything alright, Jeremiah?"_

"Yeah, y- yeah, just, uh... J- Just meet m- me there." He quickly and quietly said, before he abruptly ended the call.

* * *

Now sitting on a busted up refrigerator in a junkyard, Jeremiah looked up at the sound of footsteps, spotting Kitty walking towards him.

"Alright, Jeremiah, I'm here. Now, can you please tell me the reason for all this cloak and dagger? 'Cause I can think of much better ways to spend my Saturday than in a junkyard." She said, folding her arms over her chest.

"Kitty..." Jeremiah began, wondering what he should even say, before eventually deciding it was probably best to just be blunt. "I u- used my powers l- last n- night."

Not expecting that at all, Kitty looked at him with a shocked expression, saying, "You're serious? You said that, if you could help it, you would go the rest of your life without using your powers... So, what could've happened that made you use them?"

"The f- fire, la- last night..."

"Fire?" She repeated, only for her eyes to widen a second later. "Wait a minute! You mean that you were the one they were talking about on the news?!"

"I k- know. I sur- surprised my- myself, t- too, but... I c- couldn't let th- that little g- girl die."

"....I'm proud of you, Jeremiah." She said with a smile, joining him in sitting on the refrigerator. The two then fell into a comfortable silence for a bit, before she asked, "So... What was it like?"

"H- honestly? Exhilarating... and t- terrifying. The w- whole t- time, I wa- was just think- thinking about h- how th- the building might co- collapse on us." Well, there was something (or rather, someone) else that he was thinking about, but he wasn't quite ready to admit that out loud.

"I can't even imagine." She whispered in awe, bringing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. "So, what are you gonna do now?" Seeing the confused look he gave her, she elaborated, "I mean, what's your plan now? Do you want to become a superhero?"

Having had this particular conversation a few times before, Kitty expected him to immediately reject the idea. She was surprised, however, when he merely stared at her for a little while, before he turned his gaze to the sky.

"I d- don't kn- know what my p- plan is, but..." He began, still staring up at the sky. "I- It felt... good to b- be a- able to help some- someone."

"See?" Kitty said, hopping of the refrigerator as she turned to Jeremiah with sparkling eyes. "That's exactly why we should become superheroes!"

In response, Jeremiah sighed, wondering just how many times she had tried to persuade him to become a hero. Of course, not wanting to stand out, he would always dismiss the idea immediately, even though he knew it disappointed Kitty every time he did so. Plus, he felt like fighting crime was something better left to people like that Spider-Man guy that had been swinging around the city for the past year or so.

At least, that's what he used to think. Now, seeing first-hand how his power had been able to help someone...

"It isn't that s- simple, K- Kitty." Jeremiah said, shaking his head as he turned his gaze back to the young woman in front of him.

"Why not?" Kitty responded with a raised eyebrow. "Come on, Jeremiah. We are two smart, superpowered teenagers, who, up to this point, have pretty much just let their powers go to waste. Don't you want to do something more with your life? To be able to help people, just like you helped that little girl last night? I know I do."

Jeremiah was silent for a long while, closing his eyes as he thought everything over. There were many reasons that he was against becoming a superhero. Firstly, it pretty much went completely against the way he lived. Heroes were just about as public as it gets, even if their identities are kept a secret. Secondly, it was bound to get a target on both his, and, more importantly, Kitty's, backs. Thirdly, he didn't really like violence.

These were just a few of the reasons that he had never wanted to become a hero.

However.

'If I can help someone, even just one person with his power of mine... Then what kind of person would I be if I just kept sitting on the sidelines?' He thought with a long sigh, opening his eyes to look at Kitty.

" _If_ w- we're gonna d- do th- this," Jeremiah began, watching as Kitty's expression grew hopeful, before he continued, "then we n- need to make sure w- we're pre- prepared."

"Yes!" Kitty cheered with a big, beautiful smile, practically bouncing over to Jeremiah as she hugged him, making his cheeks heat up. She then leaned back so that she could look him in the eyes, before she said, "You know what we need first, right?"

"T- Training?" He guessed, raising his eyebrow. He couldn't imagine there was really anything more important at the moment.

"Nope. Well, actually, that too. But, no, what I'm talking about is something that's incredibly important for a superhero." At his confused expression, she elaborated with a grin, "Costumes, of course!"

"Oh." Was all Jeremiah said, making Kitty pout at the lackluster response. "H- how could I f- forget?"

"Don't worry. I've been planning for this ever since our powers awakened." She said, giving him a thumbs up. "I'm sure you'll like at least one of the ideas I've come up with for you."

In response, Jeremiah simply gave a small, somewhat unsure smile. He still had his reservations about this whole thing, but it was nice to see Kitty so happy.

'I really should start training my power, though.' Jeremiah thought, frowning slightly as he pushed his glasses up. 'Right now, all I really know how to do is shoot beams of ice. Well, that and cool drinks. If I mess up and freeze someone in a block of ice, I could end up killing them.' Rather ironically, he found himself shivering a bit as he thought about that. The last thing he needed was to accidentally kill someone. That would _definitely_ bring a lot of attention his way.

"Now, come on! We've got a lot of work to do!" Kitty said, smiling as she grabbed him by the hand, before she began leading him out of the junkyard.

'Just what am I getting myself into?'

* * *

A week later, Jeremiah could be found standing outside of Kitty's house, ringing the doorbell.

It didn't take long for him to hear her running downstairs, before the door was pulled open.

"Whoa, you got here quick." She said, looking a little surprised. She then noticed he was panting a bit. "Did you run all the way here?"

"W- Well, yeah, you- you sounded ur- urgent on the ph- phone." He said, walking inside and closing the door behind him. "W- What's up?"

"I've gotta show you something." Kitty said, smiling as she grabbed his hand, before she led him upstairs to her bedroom.

As they entered her room, Jeremiah sat down on her bed, while she walked over to her closet. "It was pretty hard hiding these from my parents for the past week."

Jeremiah was about to say something, wondering what this was all about, only to stop himself when he saw her pull out two outfits.

The one being held in her left hand consisted of a yellow, long-sleeved top, which looked to be made from a light, mesh-like material, and had navy blue sleeves. The pants were made of the same material, and were mostly yellow, with a thick, navy blue line going down the side of each thigh.

The outfit in her right hand was noticeably bigger than the other one, and consisted of a dark blue, short-sleeved shirt, that had black sleeves, and was made from that light, mesh-like material. The pants were black, slim-fit, and were made from the same material as the shirt.

It wasn't hard to figure out what these outfits were for.

"Our costumes." Kitty confirmed with a grin, handing the bigger one to Jeremiah. "What do you think?"

"I'm am- amazed that y- you w- were able to make- make both of th- these in a week." He said, running his hand across the costume with an impressed, almost awed look.

"Sleep is for the weak!" She declared, suddenly looking a little crazed, before she grew a bright smile a second later. "Well, what are you waiting for? Go to the bathroom, and try it on!"

And then, she was excitedly pushing Jeremiah out of the room.

Shaking his head with a small, fond smile, he made the short walk to the bathroom, closing the door once he got inside. After taking off his glasses, he started to remove his clothes.

A few minutes later, he could be seen standing in his new costume, looking himself over in the full body mirror that was on the back of the door.

'It's surprisingly comfortable.' It had been a bit of a tight fit when he was putting it on, so he'd thought that it would be really constricting, but it seemed that he'd worried for nothing. Moreover, it actually looked pretty good on him, in his opinion, at least. 'Kitty really outdid herself.'

Speaking of Kitty, he figured he should probably hurry up and get back to her.

Exiting the bathroom, he walked back to the bedroom, before knocking on the door. He'd made the mistake of walking in on Kitty once when she was in her underwear, and he still hadn't really lived down the embarrassment.

"Come in!" Opening the door, Jeremiah was about to walk into the room, only for his eyes to widen when he saw Kitty.

Like him, she was now in her costume, which was very form-fitting, accentuating her nice curves. She wasn't super voluptuous or anything like that, even in comparison to some other girls in their age group, but he had never cared about that. In his eyes, no-one could compare to her.

"What do you think?" Kitty asked with a smile, making Jeremiah cough awkwardly, realizing he'd just been staring.

Mustering up a bit of courage, he managed to say, "Y- You... look per- perfect."

Kitty's expression changed to one of surprise, before she grew another smile, a little softer this time. He thought he also saw her cheeks turn a little red, but that was probably just his bad eyes playing tricks on him.

"Thanks." She then ran her eyes up and down his body, giving an approving nod and thumbs-up. "You look great, too. I'm working on a mask for you, but it won't be done until tomorrow."

"A- Actually..." Jeremiah trailed off, getting a curious look from Kitty as he took off his glasses, before he placed them on her bed. "I ha- have some- something to show y- you, too."

Jeremiah then closed his eyes, taking a deep breath to focus. And then, much to Kitty's surprise and interest, ice started to form on his skin.

A few seconds later, she could see that his face, his arms, and even his hair were completely covered in a sleek coat of ice.

"Whoa..." She whispered, walking up and running a few fingers down the length of his arm, marveling at how smooth the ice was. "When'd you learn how to do this?"

"I've b- been working on it th- this past we- week. The f- first few times I tried it, I w- would end up look- looking like a living s- snowman-" Here, he had to pause when Kitty giggled, making his cheeks heat up a bit, before he shook it off and continued. "E- eventually, though, I was a- able to start getting it smoother and s- smoother. I can even s- see perfectly through it, somehow."

"And you can move alright?" She asked, still looking him over in curiosity. "It doesn't make you slower or anything?"

"No... I- It actually feels sort of... Natural?" He said, doing a few casual jumping jacks to demonstrate.

"Huh. Well, I guess you won't need a mask, after all." Kitty said, shaking her head with a smile, before she walked to the closet, pulling out a pair of black and dark blue combat boots, which she handed to Jeremiah. "These are for you."

"Thanks." He said, sitting down on the bed. As he was putting the boots on, he noticed Kitty still staring at him curiously, making him raise an eyebrow.

"So... Is the ice covering... everything?" She asked, looking a little embarrassed as the words left her mouth.

Jeremiah stared at her, surprised that she actually just asked that. Letting out an awkward sound that even he couldn't quite identify, he looked down at his boots as he answered, "Uh, y- yeah. Everything."

"O- Oh." She said, suddenly fiddling with her fingers. "Isn't that, um, uncomfortable?"

"...Like I said, it f- feels weirdly natural." It was certainly more comfortable than answering questions about ice covering his privates. He supposed he couldn't blame her for being curious, though.

As he finished tying his boots, he stood up to his full height, which was now 5'11 (180 cm), thanks to the boots adding an extra inch.

Looking at himself in the mirror Kitty had in her room, now fully in his costume (including the ice covering him), Jeremiah suddenly felt himself getting a little anxious.

"We're... r- really doing this, huh?" He asked, both to Kitty and himself, feeling nervousness creep up on him.

"Yup." Kitty said, standing on the tips of her toes to try to look over his shoulder, now wearing a yellow mask that covered the lower half of her face. "I know you're still worried about all of this, Jeremiah. Heck, I am, too. But, as worried as I am, I love my powers, and I _know_ that I can do some good with them. The same is true for you. You've just gotta have faith in yourself."

'How pathetic am I?' Jeremiah thought, clenching and unclenching his fists. 'I'm always being pushed forward by Kitty... Always the one being helped.'

Turning around to face her, Jeremiah did his best to push his his worries away as he asked, "Wh- What do we do now? Just r- run out and look for a crime t- to stop?"

Kitty smiled.

"That's exactly what we're gonna do."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wrap.
> 
> What'd you all think? I'm looking forward to writing this story, since I love Iceman's powers.
> 
> I know it was kind of weird that I didn't have Kitty use her powers at all in this chapter, but I'm sure you all know what she can do, right?
> 
> Moving on, you all might have noticed that Dinah Lance, aka Black Canary, and Garfield Logan, aka Beast Boy, are listed as characters in this story. They'll probably be the only characters I bring in from DC, so don't worry about this becoming some major crossover.
> 
> Anyway, that's all for now. I really hope you all enjoyed this first chapter.


End file.
